Report on state parks urges fundamental changes

Derek Moore, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A report on the future of California’s state parks recommends fundamental change to overcome chronic budget and management problems that threaten the long-term sustainability of these pantheons to nature.
Key recommendations include upgrading technology and fee-collection systems at parks, diversifying park leadership and creating a dedicated source of public funding to support an integrated network of state, regional and local parks.
But as noted in the 56-page Parks Forward report, underscoring funding challenges is a dearth of data on how much park services currently cost. The report calls on the California Department of Parks and Recreation to “promptly identify” those costs in order to determine what additional funding is needed to ensure the system’s viability.
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